Guest Author - Bonnie Sayers
As of December 1, 2005 the World Health Organization (WHO) is the latest organization to stop hiring smokers. Applicants will be asked if they smoke or use other tobacco products. Should they respond yes the application process will be terminated. The U.N. agency will not recruit smokers or promote tobacco use.
Recently Montgomery County, Pennsylvania rejected a ban on hiring smokers and will look at the proposal again in 2006.
Central Benefits, a third-party benefits administrator in Columbus, Ohio tests for nicotine as well as a standard drug test. Weyco, a third-party benefits administrator in Michigan has had a smoking ban for new hires for a few years now and expanded it to all employees in January of 2005 with mandatory nicotine testing.
The employees had over a year to prepare for the implementation of this new policy. Some companies offer counselors and smoking cessation programs and discounts on products not covered by health insurance.
Companies are also looking into stopping health insurance benefits to spouses who are smokers. In 2004 Union Pacific Railroad stopped hiring smokers and asks applicants to disclose if they are smokers. Alaska Airlines tests for nicotine use and has not hired smokers since the 1980's.
Employees at BankOne pay more in health insurance premiums if they or their dependents smoke. JPMorgan Chase & Company has the same policy. State employees in Alabama that are smokers pay $20 more for health insurance per month while state employees in Georgia who are smokers pay $40 more each month.
Many companies do not allow smoking on their property, but allow workers to leave the premises to smoke. Other companies have programs employees can sign up for to help kick the habit.
Over the years I have observed school bus drivers smoking right on the street outside the school gates. I would like to see this policy implemented for those who work directly with school aged children. The Resource Specialist at the Elementary School my ten-year old attends go out to his car parked on the street and smokes during breaks. The last day of school last year he was taking part in the festivities in the classroom and I could not handle the stench that was coming from him, it made me feel sick and I had to leave early.
Currently the State of California has a commercial airing that promotes quitting smoking. It is quite entertaining with the coach using cigarettes in exercising to kick the habit. When the smoker is doing situps he has to blow out the flame from a lighter, during a punching bag segment there are dozens of cigarette packs stuck to the bag that get squashed. When they are running up the stairs at a stadium there are packs on each step getting pounded on.
Already in the fourth grade my son has learned how harmful smoking can be and has stated he has no desire to try it. He knows the smell from when his Father used to visit and has mentioned when in line at the post office that someone smelled like his Father.
I quit cold turkey ten years ago and remember when my grandmother was in her earlier stages of Alzheimer's and told me it was very hard to quit and that I better do it soon. She could not handle smoking in her final stages of Alzheimer's.
Back in the 1980's I took part in the National Smoke Out Day when employed at an Insurance Company. Other employees signed up to be mentors for the day and help the person out by giving them goodies when the temptation for a cigarette grew. In those days we could still smoke at our desks.
More and more companies are trying to cut health care costs and missed work days that occur more often for smokers than non-smokers. Those who are seeking employment and are smokers might come upon nicotine testing as part of the employer's hiring practices.
CDC Tobacco Information and Prevention Source
Smoke Free
Action on Smoking and Health
UK Site on Smoking and Health
Safety In The Home
